WATERSHED MANAGEMENTa quick overview

Elizabeth Trybula, Watershed Information SpecialistIndiana Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts

watershed management what you get when you Google

Watershed Management is an iterative process of integrated decision-making regarding uses and modifications of lands and waters within a watershed. This process provides a chance for stakeholders to balance diverse goals and uses for environmental resources, and to consider how their cumulative actions may affect long-term sustainability of these resources. The Guiding Principles of the process are Partnerships, Geographic Focus, & Sound Management (strong science & data). http://www.michigan.gov/deq/

USEPA watershed management principles

Watersheds are natural systems that we can work with.

Watershed management is continuous and needs a multi-disciplinary approach.

A watershed management framework supports partnering, using sound science, taking well-planned actions and achieving results.

A flexible approach is always needed.

http://www.epa.gov/watertrain/watershedmgt/principlea.html

Inventory & Assess Determine What Needs to Be Done

Plan Figure Out How To Do It

Restore Do It

Inventory & Assess

Plan

Implement

and Can Be Done

as Effectively as Possible

and with which Resources

Evaluate Determine if what you’re doing is successful (and/or what you need to be successful)

framework of watershed management

Implementation(Restoration & Maintenance)

Planning

phases of watershed management

(adaptive management)

inventory & assessment

what it is

a comprehensive overview of current and historic environmental conditions in your watershed

what it isn’t

•immune to error or omissions

•ever complete

‘The purpose of doing a land inventory is to bring together a holistic picture of the

watershed, as a dynamic system. This piece of the landscape you’ve selected for your

attention is teeming with life, history, change, and complexity. To understand how it “works”

you need to immerse yourself in it.’- IWPG (4-1)

inventory & assessment

what it should give you (outcomes)• a baseline to work from

• an idea of trends

• information to identify problems (and potential sources)

• information to develop priorities

• information to identify opportunities

what a successful assessment entails

•historic & current research

•windshield surveys

•spatial data development

•environmental (ie. water chemistry, biological communities) monitoring

•volunteer/community involvement

‘A watershed group needs reliable data to understand and prioritize problems.’

plan

what it is

a community-based, strategic approach to address the identified problems

what it isn’t

limited to a document

‘Airing your concerns, developing a practical,

clear vision, and agreeing on measurable goals aren’t easy. However, experience shows that

groups can’t plan successfully unless they plow their way through

these steps.

When you cut away the jargon, all you are trying to do is answer a fairly simple question: What concerns us about our watershed, and

how do we want it to be different?’

- IWPG (2-1)

plan

what it should convey (outcomes)• stakeholder-concerns & collective prioritization

•problem statements

•clearly articulated, prioritized solutions

• specific action items

• specific resources available (includes people)

• a master schedule

• relevant indicators

what a successful plan requires• an accurate, up to date, watershed

inventory• representative community input

• stakeholder consensus• resource commitment

implementation(restoration & antidegradation)

what it is

action in accordance with your identified planning outcomes

what it isn’t

• independent from your plan

• limited to your cost share program

‘Practice: Prescribed manner of doing or building something…A practice may be structural [something that is built or involves changes in land forms or equipment] or it may be managerial [a specific way of using or handling or resources].’

-IWPG 8-4

implementation(restoration & antidegradation)

what restoration looks like

•individual and systemic changes

• education and outreach • ordinance development• rules enforcement• policy decisions• Low Impact Development (LID)

•installation of BMPs

• Vegetative Buffers & Swales• Sediment/Nutrient Management• Ditch Management • Pervious materials • Biofiltration , etc.

successful restoration achievements (outcomes)

• action items accomplished• water quality improvements

evaluation

what it is

a determination of project success or failure using recognized indicators

what it isn’t

• secondary

• arbitrary

Remember that watershed planning consists of determining where you are now, where you want to be in the future, how you’re going to get there, and how you will know when

you’ve arrived.

- IWPG 10-1

“You can't control what you can't measure”

- Tom DeMarco

evaluation

what you should get (outcomes)

• an understanding of the effects of your efforts

• documentation of your impact

• opportunity for growth (adaptation)critical elements for a worthwhile

evaluation

•articulated goals

•accepted indicators (environmental, social, administrative)

•comprehensive baseline information

Implementation(restoration:

education, best management

practices, water quality

improvement & antidegradation)

Planning(dialogue, strategy, understan

ding)

Inventory & Assessment

(data collection,

compilation, synthesis )

process of watershed management

Increase

watersh

ed

educatio

n in

schools

Water

Festiv

al

Train

Projec

t WET

Restore

Riparian

Corridor

Grants

&

Sponso

rs

Cost

Share

Progra

m

Partn

er

with

Land

Trust

Sample

E.coli Pa

rtne

r w

ith

Utilit

y

Gather

Commu

nity

Concern

s

Host

Public

Meetin

g

Find

Facil

itato

r

Work

with

Media

Grants

&

Sponso

rs

Grants

&

Sponso

rs

an organic process

• Watersheds are natural systems that we can work with.

• Watershed management is continuous and multi-disciplinary,

it requires:

• partnering, sound science, well-planned actions, results, and

• a flexible approach

“I am a man of fixed and unbending principles, the first of which is to be flexible at all times.”

- US Sen. Everett Dirksen

USEPA watershed management principles in a nutshell

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